The Filth and the Fury
Composite Score: 81.8
Featuring: Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Johnny Rotten, Glen Matlock, Sid Vicious, and Malcolm McLaren
Director: Julien Temple
Writer: None
Genres: Documentary, Biography, Music
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong language, drugs, and sexual content
Box Office: $612,192 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
The Filth and the Fury is a documentary about the punk band the Sex Pistols with all the flavor and flaws of that band. Its hectic style captures the chaos of late-1970s Britain and the rise of the punk era in music. The film has very little desire to depict its subjects as anything other than who they are, which seems to be in line with the band members’ own wishes as well. As such, the film contains a “warts and all” story about the band’s rise to prominence and fall from grace. The homage to punk is intercut brilliantly with clips of the chaos and poverty on the streets of Britain from that era and also scenes from Laurence Olivier’s Richard III, crafting a parallel between the rise of that lascivious monarch and his short-lived reign and the rise of the Sex Pistols. The film exemplifies the unique opportunity that documentary filmmaking provides – cutting together a ton of archive footage to create something new that still tells a cohesive story.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
If you have no desire to learn about punk or the Sex Pistols, this documentary will not be for you. It doesn’t do a whole lot to change the narrative around the band or around punk that the group and other punk artists and films haven’t already done. Arguably, its biggest contribution is framing Sid Vicious’s death as a more personal tragedy for Johnny Rotten and a catalyst that kept him removed from drugs and passionate about keeping those around him off drugs. Other than that, there was little the film had to offer that you couldn’t find in a Wikipedia article about the genre and the band other than a couple of personal anecdotes from the artists and their manager and some well-cut, visually striking archive footage pieces.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
The Filth and the Fury is a visual feast of chaos, violence, and music. In this way, it pays perfect homage to its subject matter, making it a documentary of peak quality. As an audience member, you get the feeling of frustration at the world of the 1970s, experience the chaos of a Sex Pistols punk concert, and catch a glimpse of the energy that made the band and the punk phenomenon possible. Some might describe the film’s rapid cuts and mix of film clips and archive footage with band member voiceovers as an assault on the senses, but how else should a documentary about the Sex Pistols be made?
The Filth and the Fury tells the story of the Sex Pistols honestly and with a unique style that reflects its subjects well, paralleling their rise to the rise of one of the more reviled rulers of England, crafting a documentary that is both entertaining and informative. While it lacks much original content beyond its unique cuts and footage, it remains worth watching. By listening to the words of the band members and letting their stories be told, it makes this band of misfits into lovably mischievous scamps, even managing to turn Sid Vicious into an almost sympathetic character. For that and for its striking visual style, it must be included in the list of Greatest Films of All Time.
